Location dilemma!

raspabarbas

Hello!

My lovely BF (now fiance, weeee!) proposed recently, which I am over the moon about, but starting to think about plans has thrown up some problems - namely, that we live in Liverpool, my family live in Nottingham and his family in Panama!

Has anyone else been in a similar situation and if so, how did you deal with it?

We're not sure how to organise things - shipping one family over to have them all together, having two ceremonies, or just eloping (but I don't think my grandparents would forgive us if we did that!)

Any advice?

aimee21j

How lovely! Congratulations to you both. How about meeting on neutral ground and having a holiday as well.

Joannag_2

We were in the same boat. We got married where we lived. Easier to organise, visit venues, florists etc. It did put out a couple of people but most people will travel fo a special occasion.
Congratulations!

rinroo

If funds allow, could you not have your reception in a hotel, most of the time they discount the price of the rooms, so both families can stay over, I'm sure they will have time to save.

I like the sound of two ceremonies, but could be costly!

DitaBombita

Im from Durham and my partner is from Leeds - we are getting married in West Yorks but this is because of thats where we live. I had thought of somewhere inbetween like York but then thought against it! My mates one of who is from Middlesbrough and one from Northern Ireland had wedding in Ireland - those who couldnt come they are having a big party in a local cricket club in Middlesbrough. Everyone seemed happy enough with this and I got to go to two parties!

sal-ad_daze

Congratulations! Now the fun starts!
I like Aimee's suggestion. Find somewhere 'neutral' for both families to travel to then everyone is being treated the same way.
If budget is a consideration, Cuba and Mexico are fantastic and a bit cheaper than some other wedding destinations.
Let us know what you decide.
Have fun planning!

raspabarbas

Just wanted to say thanks for all the great tips and the congrats :-)

I think we'll have a chat with the families over the next couple of week and moot some possibilities. I just didn't want to leave anyone out, what with us both having quite big families and his being so far away.

Was thinking about maybe having the proper ceremony and party here, maybe getting a coach to bring people over from Notts, and then flying out and having a blessing or something with his family in Panama.

I'm sure we'll figure it out!

bride_on_a_budget

we had the same problem, we live in devon, his family live in leeds and mine all over the place.

we decided to get married in devon and it did cause alot of rows with his dad and other family, he wanted us to get married in leeds so he didnt have to travel down and pay out for a room ( bearing in mind that he has not sent his son a birthday card for 18 years or even ring him ).

we sat down and said its our day and we will get married where we want to. we married in a hotel so alot of the family could stay for a few days.

my father in law did not turn up and we havent spoken to him since!

bride

lindsey_toffee_girl

My friend is also doing this they live in Liverpool and family in Machester and Leeds I think you have to do it here (liverpool) as you cant please everyone also no one family can say anything to you then as they both have to travel also it is easier for you to arrange and organise where you are rather than at one of the parents homes x

raspabarbas

We did decide on Liverpool in the end. We'll probably end up organising a coach or a great big convoy to bring people over. Does bring up the problem of where people will stay though! My family will only be around for a night or two but if his are flying in from Latin America they will probably want to stay for longer than a weekend...

Anyone know anyone in the North West with a LOT of spare bedrooms? :rotfl:

Oh - and thank you to everyone who gave advice and opinions, it was really helpful to get different views on it :-)

Ruthie5

We have the same situation. I'm from the UK and OH is Canadian. We chatted with his family, who are lovely, and they pretty much said, you do what you want and enjoy yourselves. We have now decided on a small UK wedding, and OH's sisters have just confirmed they'll be coming, which is great. They are going to treat it as their main holiday, and spend some time with us, but go off elsewhere too. Not sure about his M&D yet.

I emailed his M&D the other day to say we'd be thrilled if they would come, but we understand it's a big trip too and they may not feel able...and we'll leave it to them to decide.

We had also toyed with the idea of having a wedding/reception here, then a honeymoon in Canada, seeing his folks for a couple of days for some informal celebrations, so they'll feel part of things, and then heading off to do our own honeymoony things.

We are going to take care of accommodation for OH's family whilst they are here, and I think OH wants to help out with flight costs too. We've set aside a couple of thousand in our budget for that.

Good luck with your plans!